Cooling unit



w. s. DIXON COOLING UNIT April 1 Filed March 22, 1968 Sheet INVENTORIV/lL/AM SIP/ION April 1, 1969 w. s. DIXON v 3,435,633

COOLING UNIT Filed March 22, 1968 Sheet Z 0175 I NVENTOR W/ZZAMJD/XD/VApril 1, 1969 w. s. DIXON COOLING UNIT Filed March 22, 1968.IlilillllIl/ I IV/ Q IN VEN TOR W/LL/AM s. a/xo/v & "A I 091:ATTORNEYfi United States Patent 3,435,633 COOLING UNIT William S. Dixon,P.O. Box 275, Albany, Ga. 31702 Continuation-impart of application Ser.No. 665,784, Sept. 6, 1967. This application Mar. 22, 1968, Ser. No.

Int. Cl. F25c 1/00, 5/10 US. Cl. 62-352 ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE Acooling unit for use with a refrigeration system, such unit beingcomposed of one or more upright open ended bodies each of generallystraight sleeves of different diameters arranged in concentric relationabout a common axis, said sleeves having their end portions arranged ingradually converging relation and providing closed annular refrigerantchambers with inner and outer exposed surfaces constitutingrefrigerating surfaces which decrease gradually in proximity to eachother toward the ends of the unit and with the extremities of each openended body unrestricted and minimizing excessive buildup of refrigeratedproduct which would interfere with the release of the product from thecooling unit.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION This application is acontinuation-in-part of my copending application Ser. No. 665,784, filedSept. 6, 1967.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Field of the invention The invention relatesto refrigeration and particularly to the cooling unit of a refrigerationsystem consisting of one or more elements for producing ice in smallparticles.

Description of the prior art Prior art devices have produced ice on thesurfaces of cylinders; however, these have been complicated, expensive,inefficient, unreliable, as well as of limited capacity and excessiveweight, and required skilled attendants for their use and maintenance.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION A cooling unit of multiple elements eachcomposed of opened ended concentric cylinders in upright position withthe ends of the concentric cylinders merged together in graduallyconverging .relation about a common axis and providing an annularrefrigerant chamber. The remote inner and outer exposed surfaces of thecylinders constitute refrigerating surfaces decreasing gradually inproximity to each other toward the ends of the elements and with theextremities of each refrigerating element unrestricted therebyminimizing excessive build-up of the refrigerated product which wouldinterfere withlthe release of the product from the unit. The multipleelements connected in series are particularly useful in an area whereheight is restricted, it being understood that the operation ofsupplying the heat to the cooling unit to facilitate release of theproduct therefrom is controlled alternately of the refrigerating cycles.

It is an object of the invention to provide a simple, practical,relatively inexpensive, highly efficient and reliable cooling unit forthe freezing of water to produce ice or for the refrigeration of othermatter, although it will be apparent that the unit may be employed foreffecting heat exchange and, therefore, for heating as well as cooling.

Claims 3,435,633 Patented Apr. 1, 1969 P CC Another object of theinvention is to provide a cooling unit of the character indicated havingmeans by which the interior and exterior refrigerating surfaces can havetheir temperature quickly modified by heat from another part of therefrigeration system causing the release of ice or other productstreated and desired to be harvested therefrom.

Another object of the invention is to provide a cooling unit consistingof a pair of sleeves one within the other, merged together and connectedat their ends to provide a refrigerant chamber between the sleeves andwith the interior and exterior surfaces serving to produce arefrigerating effect.

A further object of the invention is to provide a simple, practical,relatively inexpensive, highly efficient and reliable cooling unit ofrelatively small cylinders and low profile, particularly useful whereheight is restricted, for the refrigeration of water or other product,as well as to employ the unit as a heat exchanger for heating as well ascooling.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will be apparent from thefollowing description considered in conjunction with the accompanyingdrawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a diagrammatic viewillustrating one application of the invention;

FIG. 2, a top plan view of the cooling unit;

FIG. 3, a vertical section of the cooling unit and illustrating indetail the manner in which the refrigerant is supplied and removed;

FIG. 4, a fragmentary enlarged detail view of the merging and joining ofthe concentric cylinders;

FIG. 5, a fragmentary view of a modified form with a capillary tube;

FIG. 6, a top plan view illustrating a simple refrigerating unit of twoelements with common supply "and return lines instead of merely a singleelement as disclosed in FIGS. 1-5;

FIG. 7, a diagrammatic view illustrating a refrigeration systememploying the cooling unit of FIG. 6 with the latter illustrated inlongitudinal section;

FIG. 8, a vertical section on the line 8-8 of FIG. 7;

FIG. 9, a horizontal section on the line 99 of FIG. 7',

FIG. 10, a top plan view of a multiple cooling unit employing fourcooling elements;

FIG. 11, a diagrammatic view of a refrigeration system incorporating thecooling unit of FIG. 10 with the latter illustrated in vertical section;

FIG. 12, a fragmentary view in larger detail of the merging and joiningof the concentric cylinders on the vertical line 12-12 of FIG. 11; and

FIG. 13, a similarly enlarged vertical section illustrating theconnection between two of the contiguous cylinders.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS With continued reference to thedrawings, a cooling unit 10 is provided composed of internal andexternal sleeves or cylinders 11 and 12 of different diameters arrangedin concentric relation about a common axis and merged together at theirextremities to provide upper and lower closed ends 13 and 14. Themerging of the two concentric sleeves or cylinders is in graduallyconverging relation providing a closed annular refrigerant chamber withthe remote inner and outer surfaces of the sleeves constituting therefrigerating surfaces which decrease gradually in proximity to eachother toward the top and bottom of the same and with the extremities ofthe open ended body unrestricted. The connection of the sleeves orcylinders may be done in any desired manner, as for example by providingthe inner sleeves or cylinders 11 with flared extremities 15 and 16 andbrazing, soldering or otherwise fusing them to the extremities of theexternal cylinders 12.

When these cylinders or sleeves 1'1 and 12 are connected they provide anannular refrigerant chamber 17 and the inner surface 18 of the innercylinder or sleeve 11, and the outer surface 19 of the outer cylinder orsleeve 12, form refrigerating or temperature modifying areas subject tothe refrigerant or heat exchange medium within the chamber 17. In viewof the fact that the cooling unit is in the form of an open ended orunrestricted body excessive build-up of refrigerated product which wouldinterfere with the release of the product from the unit is minimized. Onthese interior and exterior sur faces water or other substance may beapplied in any desired manner, as for example by means of a spray head20 on the interior and a spray ring 21 about the exterior of the coolingunit and with such spray head and spray ring supplied from a Water line22. The spray ring 21 may be mounted by means of a series of supportingstraps 23, While the spray head 20 may be supported in any desiredmanner. Water or other substance applied to the internal and externalrefrigerating surfaces of the cooling unit will be refrigerated orsubjected to heat modification in accordance with the fluid within thechamber 17.

In order to provide for a refrigerating effect the cooling unit may formpart of a conventional refrigeration system with a refrigerant or gasline 26 extending downwardly between the two cylinders and having alower end 27 terminating near the bottom of the refrigerant chamber,thus allowing the gas to expand within the chamber and flow upwardlybetween the outer and inner walls and the gas to be removed near the topthrough a return line 27 which will recycle the gas through thecompressor so that it can be cooled and liquefied. The liquidrefrigerant then passes through a conventional expansion valve 28,capillary tube, or other differential maintaining element, between thehigh and low pressure sides of the system.

In order to harvest the refrigerated product or release it, a line 29may be provided in communication with the compressor 24 and joined withthe line 26 beyond the expansion valve 28 and subject to -a valve 30under the control of a solenoid and timer 31. When the valve 30 is opencompressed hot gas from the compressor will be admitted from the line 26into the refrigerant chamber 17 to heat and release the refrigeratedproduct and the operation of the timer is synchronized so that itoperates between refrigeration cycles. An expansion valve is employed inFIG. 1, while in FIG. a capillary tube 29' is utilized, otherwise theparts are substantially the same in these two figures and therefrigeration systems operate in a similar manner. The unit may haveattached thereto an upwardly extending threaded stud 32 extendingthrough and attached to a mounting plate 3-3 by means of nuts 34.

As illustrated in FIGS. 6-13, inclusive, the cooling unit may becomposed of a series of cool-ing elements 10, each as in FIGS. 1-5,composed of internal and external cylinders or sleeves 11 and 12 ofditferent diameters arranged in concentric relation about a common axisand merged together and connected at their extremities to provide upperand lower closed ends 13 and 14, the merging of the two concentricsleeves or cylinders of each element in gradually converging relation asi the preceding figures but providing the inner sleeves or cylinders 11with upper and lower flared extremities 1'5 and 16 and brazing,soldering or otherwise fusing them to the extremities of the externalcylinders 12. As previously described, a annular refrigerant chamber 17is provided between each pair of sleeves or cylinders and the innersurface 18 of the inner cylinder or sleeve 11 and the outer surface 19of the outer cylinder or sleeve 12 form refrigerating or temperaturemodifying areas subject to the refrigerant or heat exchange mediumwithin the chamber 17.

A spray head 20 on the interior and an oval spray ring 35 on theexterior of the cooling unit having spray nozzles 36, 37 and 38 ofdifferent lengths and with such spray ring supplied from a water line39. The spray ring 35 may be supported by a series of straps 23 whilethe spray head 20 may be supported in any convenient or desired manner.

Water or other substance, the temperature of which is to be modified,may be supplied to the internal and external surface 18 and 19 of thecooling unit for refrigeration or temperature modification in accordancewith the fluid within the chambers 17. The elements which comprise thecooling unit may have peripheral proportions in contact as illustratedin FIGS. 6 and 10 in which event the refrigerating chambers, connectedin series by means of communicating openings 40 and as in FIGS. 1'5, maybe formed as part of a refrigeration system including a compressor 41,condenser 4-2, and a liquid line 43 and expansion valve 44 from whichthe refrigerant is supplied through line 45 into the upper end of therefrigerating chamber 17 from which it can flow through the opening 40into the next successive temperature modification element, and the gasremoved through the return line 46 and returned to the compressor 41.Hot compressed gas from the compressor likewise may be allowed to flowthrough a line 47 and through a valve 48 subject to a timer 31.

Instead of a pair of cooling elements, as illustrated in FIGS. 6 and 7,additional cooling elements may be employed as illustrated in FIGS. 10and 11 wherein the compressor 50 discharges hot compressed refrigerantthrough a line 51 to a condenser 52 from which condensed refrigerant mayflow through a line 53 to an expansion valve 54 and through a line 55into the first of the series of cooling elements and through openings 40and 56 through the several elements in series, after which the gas isreturned through a suction line 57 to the compressor 50. A line 58connects the refrigerant line 51 from the compressor to the line 55 tothe cooling units and is sub ject to a valve 59 controlled by the timer31 to cause hot gas to flow into the cooling elements and cause releaseof the congealed product therefrom. Water is supplied through nozzles 20to the interior and exterior of the refrigerating elements by means ofan oval spray ring 60 mounted by brackets 23. The nozzles 20 and thespray rings 21, 35 and 60 are supplied with water from any desiredsource.

It will be apparent that a simple, practical refrigerating unit isprovided which may be of one, two, four, or any desired number ofcooling elements and where height is limited the desired refrigeratingeffect can be obtained with multiple units.

It will be obvious to one skilled in the art that various changes may bemade in the described embodiments of the invention without departingfrom the spirit and scope thereof and therefore the invention is notlimited by that which is illustrated in the drawings and described inthe specification, but only as indicated in the accompanying claims.

I claim:

1. In apparatus for reducing temperature a refrigeration systemincluding a cooling unit having an upright open ended body of generallystraight sleeves of different diameters arranged in concentric relationabout a common axis, said sleeves having their end portions mergedtogether in gradually converging relation and providing a closed annularrefrigerant chamber with the remote inner and outer exposed surfaces ofsaid sleeves constituting refrigerating surfaces which decreasegradually in proximity to each other towards the ends of said unit andwith the extremities of said open ended body unrestricted and therebyminimizing excessive buildup of refrigerated product which wouldinterfere with the release of such product from the interior andexterior surfaces of said body, means whereby refrigerant may besupplied to and removed from said refrigerant chamber, and means forsupplying matter to be refrigerated to the interior and exteriorsurfaces of said unit.

2. The structure of claim 1 in which the means whereby refrigerant maybe supplied is near the bottom of the refrigerant chamber.

3. The structure of claim 1 and means for supplying heat to said coolingunit to facilitate release of the refrigerated product therefrom.

4. The structure of claim 1 in which the means by which refrigerant maybe admitted is near the bottom of the refrigerant chamber, and withmeans for supplying heat to said refrigerant chamber near the bottomthereof and around the area of admission of the refrigerant tofacilitate release of the refrigerated product from the inner and outerexterior surfaces of said cooling unit.

5. The structure of claim 1, and means for supplying heat to saidcooling unit to facilitate release of the refrigerated producttherefrom, and means for controlling the application of heat alternatelybetween refrigerating cycles of said cooling unit.

6. The structure of claim 1 and detachable mechanical means forsuspending said unit from a support.

7. The structure of claim 1 in which the outer concentric sleeve isgenerally straight and the inner concentric sleeve has its endsgradually expanded into contact with the outer concentric sleeve.

8. A cooling unit for a refrigeration system comprising a series ofindividual cooling elements each composed of upright open ended bodiesof generally straight sleeves of different diameters arranged inconcentric relation about a common axis, the sleeves of each coolingelement having their end portions merged together in graduallyconverging relation and providing a closed annular refrigerant chamberwith the remote inner and outer exposed surface of said sleevesconstituting refrigerating surfaces which decrease gradually inproximity to each other towards the ends of said unit and with theextremities of said upright open ended body unrestricted and therebyminimizing excessive build-up of refrigerated product which wouldinterfere with the release of such product from the interior andexterior surfaces of said body, means whereby refrigerant may besupplied to the first and removed from the last of the series ofrefrigeration elements, and means for supplying matter to berefrigerated to the interior and exterior surfaces of said coolingelements.

9. The structure of claim 8 in which the means for supplying matter tobe refrigerated to the exterior surfaces of said unit includes unitaryspray means extending about multiple individual cooling elements.

10. Apparatus comprising a series of cooling units of the character setforth in claim 1 connected in series and usable in an area where heightis limited.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,729,070 1/1956 Ames 623473,146,610 9/1965 Lowe 62347 3,191,398 6/1965 Rader 62354 X 3,253,4245/1966 Van Steenburgh 62347 X 3,280,585 10/1966 Lowe 62-347 ROBERT A.OLEARY, Primary Examiner.

US. Cl. X.R. 62-347

